The Oscar Worthy (and Sustainable) Dress

What the stars wear on the night of the Oscars is all very much part of this gala Hollywood evening, with celebrities navigating the five-hundred-foot red carpet in their elaborate designer gowns and very high heels. To ensure that some integrity is put back into the red carpet display so that it is not completely vacuous, "Red Carpet Green Dress" was launched in 2009 to highlight the importance of sustainable fashion, and also to fundraise for MUSE Global and MUSE School, in Los Angeles.

Essentially, Red Carpet Green Dress is a clever international social innovation dress design contest started by Suzy Amis Cameron, an environmental advocate and wife of film director James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic). Now in its fourth year, this contest sets designers across the world the challenge to create an Oscar® worthy dress made sustainably.

This year's 2013 winner is designer Michael Badger; his creation was worn on the red carpet at the 85th Academy Awards® by the actress, Naomie Harris. Legendary designer Dame Vivienne Westwood mentored Badger, who not only used an organic cotton thread for hand embroidery, but also ensured the gown was made of a Global Organic Textile Standard certi?ed organic silk crepe de chine. It was embroidered with old vintage glass beads from the '20s through the '60s and chocolate candy wrappers. Standard reclaimed zippers were sourced, while the dying process used goldenrod and a renewable biodegradable natural plant source, chamomile, used medicinally and for chamomile tea. Since there were no water pollutants or chemicals used, any waste produced was transferred to a compost heap.

The Red Carpet Green Dress goal is to ensure that fashion is trend setting and thought provoking. Suzy Amis Cameron, Campaign Founder says, "I couldn't be more thrilled with the incredibly glamorous design we're presenting to the world. I believe it will make a very powerful statement on behalf of sustainable fashion, and my hope is that it will provoke some thought about more sustainable fashion in our everyday lives." This sustainable fashion award wants to set the right styles, provoke the right thoughts and create positive change in fashion. It uses fashion to create sustainability and social innovation from the way designers create things from things thrown away and from recycling. It believes that you are either part of the problem or part of the solution and right now fashion is at a sustainable threshold. Red Carpet Green Dress is about being part of the solution—it is about more than just a gorgeous gown.

In the world of fashion, image is everything. Luckily, there are now scores of eco designers skilfully combining design, social innovation and sustainability. Designer Stella McCartney and prominent influencers such as Livia Firth, and Vogue have long promoted the integration of sustainability into luxury style. By bringing attention to the beauty and practicality of sustainable design, more people will consider sustainable alternatives and practices in their own lives and ultimately, become part of the solution.

Photo Credit: Red Carpet Green Dress Website